City Council Preview – Stadium Matters & More on Packed Agenda
By Robert Haugh
It has been three weeks since the last Council meeting, which only means a packed agenda, and likely another marathon meeting.
The only expected fireworks could be, once again, Levi’s Stadium related matters.
Stadium Matters
The biggest stadium issue addressed will be an update on the San Tomas Creek Trail closure and detour. After reviewing plans suggested by the Council, both Cedar Fair/Great America and the 49ers have decided a detour to Creek Trail users through the main parking lot is not feasible. City Staff simply suggests noting and filing the report, and offers no solutions to altering the Creek Trail closure. Perhaps since the Creek Trail is a public trail, the 49ers should finance a new over crossing, as we’re likely to hear from team critics and avid Creek Trail users?
The Council will vote on an agreement with Maze & Associates Accountancy Corporation to perform the annual financial audit of stadium finances for a maximum of five fiscal years beginning with an initial cost of $135,423. This is different than the Harvey Rose audit that’s looking at Measure J compliance.
New Online Agenda System and Implementation of an Enterprise Document Management System
An agreement for up to $50,490 to Granicus, Inc. would implement a new Agenda management System for Council meetings. The current SIRE system was implemented nine years ago and is no longer supported and at “significant risk for failure.” This is good news since the city’s website has been terrible for a long time.
Additionally, there is an item to approve up to $314,151 in Fiscal Year 2016-2017 with ECS Imaging, Inc. for the implementation of an Enterprise Document Management System, with an amount of $519,939 over the three year term, plus a contingency totaling $15,000 in the event additional services need to be added over the contract term for a total not-to-exceed project cost of $534,939. This also will allow easier public access to public records.
Other items being tackled at tomorrow evening’s meeting
* Sobrato Organization recently gave up their Exclusive Negotiating Rights Agreement for the 2.5-acre site at San Tomas & Monroe. Sobrato envisioned building 200 micro units on the site for very low income and homeless persons. They withdrew after major opposition from local residents. This is just formality to refund the developer their $150,000 deposit.
* The Council will once again hold a public hearing on the proposal to demolish a MacKay home at 167 Claremont Avenue. At the last hearing on Jan. 24, this item had hours of public testimony. This hearing is to approve the Architecture Committee’s referral to Council to allow demolition of an 1,801 square foot home to allow construction of a new 2,623 square foot home. The original plans for demolition and rebuild were submitted in November 2015.
* A public hearing on an action plan for 2017-2018 CDBG (Community Development Block Grant Program) and HOME (Home Investment Partnerships Act) funds will be held. This report is due to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) by May 12. This is awfully close to the deadline. The annual plan describes how the City uses these funds to assist low and moderate income City residents.
Thank you Robert for covering this issue.
But there is a key issue that I’d like you to look at the video and your notes on.
The Stadium Authority clearly directed the Levi’s Stadium Management Company to work with the City Staff to create options of how to implement a temporary detour, to pick one and implement that detour, then come back in 90 days with a report.
The Stadium Authority did NOT suggest that the Levi’s SMC/49ers implement this trail detour.
They ORDERED this to happen and that it must happen for the Monster Jam event, plus others afterwards. This was very clear.
The role of implementation by the Assistant City Manager is most troubling. It is NOT just the Levi’s SMC that violated the order. It appears that the senior city staff did not work to create this detour and enforce that it happens for the Monster Jam and subsequent events.
Further it appears the Assistant City Manager has been working to end this City Council order.
This is NOT the first time that the Levi’s SMC/49ers have given the City of Santa Clara and it’s residents the middle finger. But this amongst the most obvious example.
But it should also be troubling that the senior city staff can “go rogue” like this to not only not enforce a City Council directive, but work with a private corporation to undermine that very City Council directive.
There need to be consequences to both violations of corporations as well as city employees that violate City Council directives.